<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The interception was recognized as an important part of the catchment water balance in temperate climate. The mountainous forest ecosystem at experimental headwater catchment Liz has been subject of long-term monitoring. Unique dataset in terms of time resolution serves to determine canopy storage capacity and free throughfall. Spatial variability of throughfall was studied using one weighing and five tipping bucket rain gauges. The basic characteristics of forest affecting interception process were determined for the Norway spruce stand at the experimental area - the leaf area index was 5.66 - 6.00 m2 m-2, the basal area was 55.7 m2 ha-1, and the crown closure above individual rain gauges was between 19 and 95%. The total interception loss in both growing seasons analyzed was 34.5%. The mean value of the interception capacity determined was about 2 mm. Throughfall exhibited high variability from place to place and it was strongly affected by character of rainfall. On the other hand, spatial pattern of throughfall in average showed low variability.</abstract>

The interception was recognized as an important part of the catchment water balance in temperate climate. The mountainous forest ecosystem at experimental headwater catchment Liz has been subject of long-term monitoring. Unique dataset in terms of time resolution serves to determine canopy storage capacity and free throughfall. Spatial variability of throughfall was studied using one weighing and five tipping bucket rain gauges. The basic characteristics of forest affecting interception process were determined for the Norway spruce stand at the experimental area - the leaf area index was 5.66 - 6.00 m2 m-2, the basal area was 55.7 m2 ha-1, and the crown closure above individual rain gauges was between 19 and 95%. The total interception loss in both growing seasons analyzed was 34.5%. The mean value of the interception capacity determined was about 2 mm. Throughfall exhibited high variability from place to place and it was strongly affected by character of rainfall. On the other hand, spatial pattern of throughfall in average showed low variability.

Rainfall interception and spatial variability of throughfall in spruce stand

Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Thákurova 7, 166 29, Prague, Czech Republic

Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Thákurova 7, 166 29, Prague, Czech Republic.

Institute of Hydrodynamics of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Pod Paťankou 5, Prague 6, Czech Republic

Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Rainfall interception and spatial variability of throughfall in spruce stand"}

The interception was recognized as an important part of the catchment water balance in temperate climate. The mountainous forest ecosystem at experimental...

Rainfall interception and spatial variability of throughfall in spruce stand

Published Online: Nov 15, 2014

Page range: 277 - 284

Received: Jun 12, 2014

Accepted: Sep 05, 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/johh-2014-0037

© 2014

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.